Zhang Xun

Zhang Xun (; 70924 November 757 ) was a Chinese scholar-official and military commander during the Tang dynasty. He was known for defending Yongqiu and Suiyang during the An Shi Rebellion against the rebel armies of Yan, and thus, his supporters asserted, he blocked Yan forces from attacking and capturing the fertile Tang territory south of the Huai River. However, he was severely criticized by some contemporaries and some later historians as lacking humanity due to his encouragement of cannibalism during the Battle of Suiyang. Other historians praised him for his great faithfulness to Tang.

Background Zhang Xun was born in 709, during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. He was described as over 1.9 meters tall and had an imposing look. The official histories Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang disagreed about the location where Zhang's family was from, with the Old Book of Tang indicating that the family was from Pu Prefecture (蒲州, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) and the New Book of Tang indicating that the family was from Deng Prefecture (鄧州, roughly modern Nanyang, Henan).

In spring 756, Linghu returned and put Yongqiu under siege again. During the desperate siege, six of Zhang's officers argued that they should surrender, pointing out that, by that point, Emperor Xuanzong had abandoned Chang'an and fled to Yi Prefecture (益州, roughly modern Chengdu, Sichuan). Zhang feigned agreement, and the next morning, he displayed a portrait of Emperor Xuanzong and led the soldiers in bowing to it, and then summoned the six officers and executed them. It was said that this affirmed the loyalty that the soldiers had for Tang. With Yongqiu not falling to him, Linghu was again forced to lift the siege and withdraw to Chenliu (陳留, in modern Kaifeng, Henan). Meanwhile, when another Yan general, Li Tingwang , tried to pass Yongqiu and attack Ningling and Xiangyi , Zhang attacked him and forced him to break off the attack on Ningling and Xiangyi.

In winter 756, Linghu, along with Wang Fude , again attacked Yongqiu, but was again repelled by Zhang. However, Linghu and Li then built a new fort north of Yongqiu to cut off Yongqiu's supply lines. With several other Tang-held cities in the region falling and Yang Chaozong again ready to attack Ningling, Zhang abandoned Yongqiu and withdrew to Ningling, rendezvousing with Xu Yuan the governor of Suiyang Commandery (睢陽, roughly modern Shangqiu) at Ningling. They repelled an attack by Yang, forcing him to flee. Zhang was subsequently made the deputy to the military governor (jiedushi) of Henan Circuit, Li Ju the Prince of Guo, but when he requested aid from Li Ju, who was then at Pengcheng, Li Ju refused to provide material aid, only commissioning Zhang's subordinates with official titles.

By this point, An Lushan had been assassinated and replaced as the emperor of Yan by his son An Qingxu. After An Qingxu took the throne, he sent the general Yin Ziqi to attack Suiyang. Xu, who had returned to Suiyang by that point, sought aid from Zhang. Zhang therefore left his officer Lian Tan in charge of defending Ningling and took most of his forces to Suiyang, defending the city together. They repelled Yin's attack initially, but Yin soon regrouped and put Suiyang under siege. Xu, citing the fact that he was a civilian official and not well versed in military matters, bestowed the command of their joint forces on Zhang and became only responsible for logistics, leaving the military matters to Zhang.

Death and posthumous recognitions On 24 November 757, However, some, including the Qing dynasty scholar Wang Fuzhi, severely criticized him for not only permitting but encouraging cannibalism,